WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal grand jury has indicted a California man who was found with a gun, knife and pepper spray near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after telling police he was planning to kill the justice, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, Calif., was charged in a single-count indictment with attempting to murder a Justice of the United States.
Prosecutors say Roske traveled from California to the justice’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with the intent of killing Kavanaugh. Roske pulled up near the home in a taxi shortly after 1 a.m. on June 8 carrying a suitcase with a gun and ammunition, a tactical chest rig with pepper spray and a knife, and a flashlight, a laser, a thermal monocular and other burglary tools, according to court papers.
Federal officials have said Roske said he purchased the gun to kill Kavanaugh and also planned to kill himself. He was arrested by police in Montgomery County, Maryland, after he called 911 and told a police dispatcher he was near Kavanaugh’s home and wanted to take his own life.
Roske told police he was upset by a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case. He also said he was upset over the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, according to prosecutors.